diff --git a/src/cairo-xlib-render-compositor.c b/src/cairo-xlib-render-compositor.c
index 8a1ec7b..6478a89 100644
--- a/src/cairo-xlib-render-compositor.c
+++ b/src/cairo-xlib-render-compositor.c
@@ -55,6 +55,16 @@
 #include "cairo-traps-private.h"
 #include "cairo-tristrip-private.h"
 
+typedef int (*cairo_xlib_error_func_t) (Display     *display,
+					XErrorEvent *event);
+
+static int
+_noop_error_handler (Display     *display,
+		     XErrorEvent *event)
+{
+    return False;		/* return value is ignored */
+}
+
 static cairo_int_status_t
 check_composite (const cairo_composite_rectangles_t *extents)
 {
@@ -395,6 +405,7 @@ copy_boxes (void *_dst,
     GC gc;
     Drawable d;
     int i, j;
+    cairo_xlib_error_func_t old_handler;
 
     if (! _cairo_xlib_surface_same_screen  (dst, src))
 	return CAIRO_INT_STATUS_UNSUPPORTED;
@@ -431,10 +442,12 @@ copy_boxes (void *_dst,
 	int y1 = _cairo_fixed_integer_part (boxes->chunks.base[0].p1.y);
 	int x2 = _cairo_fixed_integer_part (boxes->chunks.base[0].p2.x);
 	int y2 = _cairo_fixed_integer_part (boxes->chunks.base[0].p2.y);
+	old_handler = XSetErrorHandler (_noop_error_handler);
 	XCopyArea (dst->dpy, d, dst->drawable, gc,
 		   x1 + dx, y1 + dy,
 		   x2 - x1, y2 - y1,
 		   x1,      y1);
+	XSetErrorHandler (old_handler);
     } else {
 	/* We can only have a single control for subwindow_mode on the
 	 * GC. If we have a Window destination, we need to set ClipByChildren,
@@ -453,10 +465,12 @@ copy_boxes (void *_dst,
 		    int y1 = _cairo_fixed_integer_part (chunk->base[i].p1.y);
 		    int x2 = _cairo_fixed_integer_part (chunk->base[i].p2.x);
 		    int y2 = _cairo_fixed_integer_part (chunk->base[i].p2.y);
+		    old_handler = XSetErrorHandler (_noop_error_handler);
 		    XCopyArea (dst->dpy, d, dst->drawable, gc,
 			       x1 + dx, y1 + dy,
 			       x2 - x1, y2 - y1,
 			       x1,      y1);
+		    XSetErrorHandler (old_handler);
 		}
 	    }
 	} else {
@@ -488,10 +502,12 @@ copy_boxes (void *_dst,
 
 	    XSetClipRectangles (dst->dpy, gc, 0, 0, rects, j, Unsorted);
 
+	    old_handler = XSetErrorHandler (_noop_error_handler);
 	    XCopyArea (dst->dpy, d, dst->drawable, gc,
 		       extents->x + dx, extents->y + dy,
 		       extents->width,  extents->height,
 		       extents->x,      extents->y);
+	    XSetErrorHandler (old_handler);
 
 	    XSetClipMask (dst->dpy, gc, None);
 
diff --git a/src/cairo-xlib-screen.c b/src/cairo-xlib-screen.c
index 57beeaa..68506be 100644
--- a/src/cairo-xlib-screen.c
+++ b/src/cairo-xlib-screen.c
@@ -65,6 +65,16 @@
 
 #include "cairo-fontconfig-private.h"
 
+typedef int (*cairo_xlib_error_func_t) (Display     *display,
+					XErrorEvent *event);
+
+static int
+_noop_error_handler (Display     *display,
+		     XErrorEvent *event)
+{
+    return False;		/* return value is ignored */
+}
+
 static int
 parse_boolean (const char *v)
 {
@@ -375,12 +385,15 @@ _cairo_xlib_screen_get_gc (cairo_xlib_display_t *display,
 
     if (gc == NULL) {
 	XGCValues gcv;
+	cairo_xlib_error_func_t old_handler;
 
 	gcv.graphics_exposures = False;
 	gcv.fill_style = FillTiled;
+	old_handler = XSetErrorHandler (_noop_error_handler);
 	gc = XCreateGC (display->display,
 			drawable,
 			GCGraphicsExposures | GCFillStyle, &gcv);
+	XSetErrorHandler (old_handler);
     }
 
     return gc;
diff --git a/src/cairo-xlib-surface.c b/src/cairo-xlib-surface.c
index 029a542..f545021 100644
--- a/src/cairo-xlib-surface.c
+++ b/src/cairo-xlib-surface.c
@@ -840,13 +840,15 @@ _get_image_surface (cairo_xlib_surface_t    *surface,
 	 * retry, but to keep things simple, we just create a
 	 * temporary pixmap
 	 */
+	cairo_xlib_error_func_t old_handler;
 	Pixmap pixmap;
 	GC gc;
 
 	status = _cairo_xlib_surface_get_gc (display, surface, &gc);
 	if (unlikely (status))
-            goto BAIL;
+            goto BAIL2;
 
+	old_handler = XSetErrorHandler (_noop_error_handler);
 	pixmap = XCreatePixmap (display->display,
 				surface->drawable,
 				extents->width, extents->height,
@@ -873,12 +875,13 @@ _get_image_surface (cairo_xlib_surface_t    *surface,
 
 	    XFreePixmap (display->display, pixmap);
 	}
+	XSetErrorHandler (old_handler);
 
 	_cairo_xlib_surface_put_gc (display, surface, gc);
 
 	if (ximage == NULL) {
 	    status =  _cairo_error (CAIRO_STATUS_NO_MEMORY);
-            goto BAIL;
+            goto BAIL2;
         }
     }
 
@@ -1005,15 +1008,17 @@ _get_image_surface (cairo_xlib_surface_t    *surface,
     }
 
  BAIL:
+    if (unlikely (status)) 
+	cairo_surface_destroy (&image->base);
+
+ BAIL2:
     if (ximage)
         XDestroyImage (ximage);
 
     cairo_device_release (&display->base);
 
-    if (unlikely (status)) {
-	cairo_surface_destroy (&image->base);
+    if (unlikely (status))
 	return _cairo_surface_create_in_error (status);
-    }
 
     return &image->base;
 }